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Jungle Bugs: Masters of Camouflage and Mimicry Paperback – April 5, 2003

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

During roughly 400 million years on this planet, one million species of insects have developed with a great diversity of shape and color to protect them from predators.

Bruce Purser spent years traveling through tropical forests studying insects and photographing their ongoing quest for survival as they blended into tree trunks and imitated sticks, leaves, other bugs, and even bird droppings. Taken in exotic locales including French Guyana, the Peruvian Amazon, Malaysia, Kenya, Morocco, and Venezuela, his dazzling photographs are accompanied by thoughtful text as he traces the insects' efforts to hide from or scare off their predators.

In this charming and informative book:

  • Explore the dangerous and little-known world of insects
  • Experience exotic tropic tours
  • Discover animal behavior in lively and understandable language
  • Find out how a good disguise or a good impersonation can make the difference between life and death in the animal world

    Stunning color photographs reveal insect secrets that we would never get a chance to observe ourselves: such as a harmless moth that looks exactly like a stinging wasp or an inoffensive butterfly that's protected from predators because its coloring is almost identical to that of a highly poisonous variety.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Reveals the amazing ways insects hide from their predators ... beautifully illustrated with the author's photos. (Nancy Bent Booklist 2003-08-01)

Purser's text and 300 dramatic color photos offer entertaining content for the curious adult. (Linda Piwowarczyk
Chicago Sun Newspapers 2003-11-13)

The most beautiful entomological photographs that this reviewer has seen in 12 years as an entomologist and 15 years as a librarian ... This unique treasure is the result of more than 30 years of entomological photography ... text is clearly written ... an excellent addition to any library. Summing Up: Essential. (K. Fescemyer
Choice)

Excellent comparisons between insect camouflage and mimicry... superb color photographs help to make reading the book a real pleasure. (Paul P. Shubeck
Science Books and Films 2003-10-15)

About the Author

Bruce Purser spent the first ten years of his life on a sheep farm in New Zealand where he developed his lifelong fascination with insects. He trained as a geologist, which led him to the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra. He visited many tropical forests, notably those of South America. In the 1970s he moved from collecting insects to photographing them.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Firefly Books (April 5, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1552976637
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1552976630
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 12
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.75 x 11 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Bruce Purser
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2012
Jungle Bugs is one of the very few books - if not the only - on camouflage and mimicry in tropical rainforests. For others perspectives go on Blurb and look for Evolution book that deals on the same subject from Borneo to Amazonia, Madagascar and lot of others rainforests around the world.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2006
For those who like to look at photos of real-life bugs up close and in their environment, this is the book for you. The pictures are amazing. There are more photos of camouflage and mimicry than in any other book of its kind that I've looked at--and I've looked at many! It's appropriate for all ages because it contains good information, but it is also worth it just for the pictures!
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2017
Magnificent photos of live insects displaying various forms of presumed-adaptive coloration in the tropics. The commentary is basically sound, though tainted by a bit more teleology than one might wish. The book is scantily referenced. Most of the concepts illustrated were already current in 1892 when Frank Beddard published "Animal Coloration," but that's all right. The author, a well-traveled retired geologist, is an amateur entomologist but clearly is in the top rank of insect photographers. Few of the insects are identified to the species level, so if there are errors they are not conspicuous (as they are in his other, more recent book on "Butterflies of the Andes"). I wish the title were a bit less crude! First-rate eye candy.

Top reviews from other countries

Douglas Tucker
5.0 out of 5 stars Jungle Bugs
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2009
This is an excellent book,the photographs are
really good, and really interesting.
Buy this Book.
One person found this helpful
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